Energy & transmission
Production, storage, and redundancy for night operations and emergencies.
Back to Mission Mars
// Module 02 — Build
Modelling Mars
Your proposal is only half the brief. Every team also builds a physical model of its colony on a one-metre hexagonal board — the same board every other team builds on, because on showcase day they all connect into a single continuous Mars.
// Specialisations
Ten systems.
One colony.
Divide these between your crew. Every one of them has to exist somewhere on your board, and every one of them has to work with the others.
Agriculture & food
High-tech farming and livestock to feed 650 people, every single day.
Accommodation & leisure
Residential, recreational, and entertainment facilities worth living in.
Mining & resources
Extracting and processing water, gases, and minerals from the planet itself.
Spaceport & servicing
Launch, landing, refuelling, maintenance, and cargo handling.
Research & exploration
Laboratories, rovers, and reconnaissance vehicles for the surface.
Remote outposts
Forward bases that make future colony expansion possible.
Industrial & manufacturing
Turning raw Martian material into usable components on site.
Storage & distribution
Holding and moving resources and cargo across the whole colony.
Preliminary habitation
The first hardware your crews live in while they build everything else.
// Materials
What you are building with.
Every team gets the same starting kit and the same limits, so the contest stays about design, not budget.
- A one-metre hexagonal modelling board that interconnects with every other team's board
- A mission manual and project log for recording decisions as you make them
- A pen drive preloaded with the technical guidelines, used later for submission
- Physical and online workshops, plus access to shared tools and build areas
- An official Mission Mars T-shirt, worn at presentations
12VMaximum DC power on any model — 240V AC is prohibited
3DPrinting, laser cutting, and CAD tools are all encouraged
♻Upcycled and waste materials count toward sustainable design
Recommended methods
Sketch first, then prototype small before committing material. Use CAD and 3D printing for repeated parts, card and foam for massing studies, and keep every module removable so you can revise a system without rebuilding the board.
Material limits
Electronics are capped at 12V DC. Direct 240V AC electrification of a model is strictly prohibited. Nothing may extend beyond your board's footprint in a way that blocks a neighbouring team from connecting to it.
Safety
Cutting, soldering, and hot tools are used only in supervised build areas with the correct protection. Batteries are stored and charged under adult supervision. Clear your workspace and account for every tool at the end of each session.
Sustainable design
On Mars nothing is thrown away, and the judges look for the same discipline in your model. Reuse offcuts, upcycle packaging, and be able to explain where every resource in your colony comes from and where it goes when it is spent.
Full submission formats, power limits, and penalties live in the official rules.